Of Wit and Will
by Soli-chan
Summary: [For Queenizzay] Two months after Naraku's death, a huge misunderstanding, a few games, and a great deal of miscommunication finally force Miroku and Sango to talk about their relationship.


Disclaimer: Don't own it. Never have, never will.

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Of Wit and Will

A MiroSanta Giftfic for Queenizzay

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"_And love ..  
Such a silly game we play, oh,  
Like a summer's day in May.  
What is love, what is love?  
I just want it to be love"_

"Love" by Matt White

- - - - -

Sango sighed in exasperation. Shippou had, for the umpteenth time today, asked her to play with him.

"So will you?"

"Um…" Pursing her lips, Sango thought for a moment. Kagome and Inuyasha had yet to return from her time, and Kohaku was learning about healing from Kaede. In fact, she was collecting herbs for the two right now. "I can't play right now, Shippou-chan, I still have a few more herbs to find. Houshi-sama can't play with you?"

The fox kit pouted. "A nearby village asked for an exorcism this morning. He said he'd be back tonight."

"All right. Well, if you can wait at Kaede-sama's just a little bit longer, I _promise_ I will play with you. Okay?" Shippou smiled and nodded, hurrying back to Kaede's hut where he would wait patiently.

She sighed again. While she would have loved to neglect all her chores, she was a very busy woman these days and slacking off wouldn't help at all. They had defeated Naraku almost two months ago, but there was still so much to do. Somehow, everyday life as a normal villager now seemed so complicated. She and the others weren't wanderers anymore; the group had settled itself in Kaede's village. Battles with demons came fewer and farther between, and Kagome was teaching Sango to cook. What was the world coming to?

Life was so much easier when all she knew, all she had to do was fight and survive. Sango was afraid this new life didn't suit her, and the thought of it was depressing. It didn't help that she and Miroku still hadn't talked about their engagement. Every time they spoke, it seemed like they were just circling around the subject with no real intention of actually mentioning it. _She_ certainly wasn't going to mention it first, not when she had to make sure that he still wanted her. While he no longer focused his attention on other girls, he didn't redirect it all to focus on her, either. Surely there must have been some moment in the past two months that he had made some sort of advance on her, but Sango couldn't remember it if her life depended on it. She frowned.

Having found the last herb Kaede asked for, Sango headed back toward the village, looking through the bundle of herbs to make sure she'd gotten everything. When she found a flower mixed with the rest of the herbs, she frowned again. _Where did _that_ come from?_ she thought to herself, wondering where she might have picked it up. She looked at it again. It was beautiful, and if she remembered correctly, it was called a daffodil. Putting the blossom up to her nose, Sango inhaled deeply, and sneezed. Her eyes burned and began to water. She sneezed again. Eyeing the blossom curiously, she remembered the last time she saw a daffodil. She had been a child, no more than four or five years old, and was picking flowers with her mother. Curiously enough, she had gone into a sneezing fit then, too. Suddenly, Sango remembered what her mother told her before.

She was allergic to daffodils.

Immediately tossing the flower aside, Sango chose to distance herself from it—fast. Unfortunately, the damage was done and Sango's condition only worsened as she made her way back to the village. She rubbed at her eyes and nose furiously but nothing would help! She was sneezing less, but her eyes were still so watery and now she felt so dizzy that it was difficult for her to walk. If the gods were at all merciful, then that huge "blob-like thing" (or so Kagome would call it) in the distance was Kaede's home.

At this point, Sango could only hope.

- - - - -

When Shippou saw Sango making her way to Kaede's hut, he hadn't expected her to look the way she did. Her eyes were red and puffy as she rubbed at them and her nose was red too. She looked like she was crying. But why? Could she be crying over Miroku? Sure their relationship seemed a little weird right now but they were okay, right? Shippou wasn't too sure. When Sango waved to him, almost happily, he was confused. Wasn't she sad? Then she greeted him like nothing was wrong, though something clearly was.

Shippou decided it'd probably be best not to say anything about Sango's current state. If she was trying to hide it this much, she probably didn't want to talk about it. For now, he would just play the oblivious child and let Kagome handle it when she got back. Kagome was always good with this sort of thing.

"Shippou, I'll just get these herbs to Kaede-sama and then we'll play, all right?"

"Okay Sango!" She was still going to play with him? Weird. First she was crying and now she's all about the fun. This did not add up at all.

Upon Sango's return, Shippou saw that she was stumbling a little.

"Are you okay, Sango? You're walking kinda funny."

"Oh, I'm fine. Nothing to worry about." _I'm just feeling so dizzy that I could throw up_, she thought. "So what are we playing?" She smiled.

Shippou decided that this behavior was really, _really_ weird. "Uh well, it's something Kagome taught me a week ago. What you do is you hold hands and spin around while you sing this song."

"A song?"

"Yeah! It goes like… um…" Shippou thought for a moment. "Oh yeah! '_Ring around the rosie, a pocket full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down!_' And then when you say 'down,' you sit down."

"I see. Well," Sango said, dusting herself off, "let's give it a try."

And so, the pair played for a few minutes, laughing as the world spun and they stumbled. But as luck would have it, Sango was still feeling the effects of that dandelion. The spinning around only made her dizzier and now she had a pounding headache. When Shippou asked if they could take a break, Sango couldn't agree faster. Feeling more sick than she ever imagined, Sango groaned in pain and put a hand to her stomach.

Shippou watched as Sango headed for the bushes. Assuming that she had gone there because she felt like throwing up, he left her alone. He wouldn't want someone hanging over his shoulders as he…did that.

- - - - -

Whenever Kagome returned from her time, she always expected that there was something going on, but that almost always involved Inuyasha. But this time, Inuyasha had been with her and now the issue had something to do with Sango and crying. This meant that it probably had to do with Miroku.

"Shippou… What exactly happened here?" she asked.

"Well, I don't really know. I asked Sango to play with me and she said she would as soon as she got the herbs Kaede needed. But when she came to the hut, she looked like she was crying! Her eyes were all red and puffy and she was sniffly and mmrph—" Inuyasha clapped a hand over Shippou's mouth.

"Calm down, runt. What happened after that?"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome slapped his hand away from Shippou's mouth. "Go ahead, Shippou."

The fox kit took a deep breath. "Okay, so she was crying but I guess she stopped and was acting like nothing was wrong. So we played a little but she got _really_ dizzy and kinda ran toward the bushes and I guessed she was gonna throw up so I left her alone. Then she came back here to get her stuff. She said--"

Inuyasha interrupted him again. "She fuckin' left?!"

"No! If you'd let me finish, I was gonna say that she said she'd be going to the hot springs." Shippou rolled his eyes at Inuyasha, who thumped him on the head in response.

"Inuyasha! Stop that!" Kagome huffed. "There's something wrong with Sango. Shippou, do you know if there was anything bothering her or if she and Miroku-sama talked or something?"

"I don't think so. He's been gone all day."

"What? Where the fuck is he?" Inuyasha demanded.

"Someone from one of the nearby villages asked him for an exorcism. He left this morning and said he'd be back tonight."

"Well, it's almost sunset." Kagome sighed. "Sango isn't one to be very moody… I know she doesn't like to talk about how she feels sometimes but it's not like her to act like this. And she's throwing up?" Kagome's eyes widened in realization. "I-Inuyasha… if someone was um.. if someone was pregnant, would you be able to smell it?" It was at this moment that Shippou chose to leave Inuyasha and Kagome alone.

"What the…? Fuck, Kagome, are you pregnant?! Did something happen to you?! Who the fuck--"

"No, no! I'm talking about Sango! I…I think she might be pregnant." Kagome whispered.

"Aw, shit. Well, even if she was, I probably wouldn't be able to tell until maybe… three or four months in. You think it was the fuckin' bouzu?"

"Who else could it be?"

"Damn. No wonder they kinda smelled like each other that one time…"

"What? What one time?"

"Remember when we were on our way back here, a few days before we killed that bastard Naraku?" Kagome nodded. "We had to split up for some shit, I think Miroku wanted to see Mushin one last time in case things didn't go over too well. Sango said she'd go and keep an eye on him. When they finally caught up with us, I remember they smelled a little like each other."

"And you didn't tell me?!" Kagome was in a panic.

Inuyasha surprised Kagome with his response. "Keh! I figured that whatever the fuck happened was their business and it wasn't my place to start saying shit!"

"Oh, this is not good. I mean, well… I would've expected Sango to wait until they were married, or at least tell me! Gods, that was almost two months ago! And you won't be able to tell for sure until three…"

"Hell, even if I wanted, I couldn't try tonight. It's the new moon, remember?"

Kagome frowned. "Yeah. I guess we'll just have to ask them. I wonder if Miroku-sama knows."

- - - - -

Miroku whistled a small tune as he walked over to Kaede's hut. He'd been able to take care of the exorcism quickly and just before he'd received his payment, he found something of better use to him than money. Then on his way back to the village, he'd had enough time to think everything through. Today couldn't possibly get any better. Well, not unless Sango decided she really would bear his children.

"Miroku, you bastard! Get in here!" Inuyasha yelled.

Miroku remained calm as he walked into the hut and began to drink from one of the water bottles that Kagome often brought from her time. "What seems to be the problem, Inuyasha?"

"You knocked Sango up, didn't you?!"

Miroku choked. "Excuse me?"

"Keh! Don't play stupid! How could you be so irresponsible? What if we hadn't defeated Naraku or if you died in battle?! Fuckin' moron!"

What? This was impossible! Sango couldn't be pregnant and Inuyasha was never the voice of reason! Was this a joke? Miroku turned to Kagome with a questioning look on his face.

"Miroku-sama… What Inuyasha means to say is… we think Sango's pregnant and we just want to know for sure."

"I… I don't know anything about this." Miroku began to panic and was pacing in front of the fire. Was Sango hiding something from him? A lover? "W-where is she?"

Kagome sighed. "Shippou said she's at the hot springs right now, but she should be heading back by now. It's already night--" Kagome stopped when she saw Sango in the doorway and everyone froze at the sight of her.

Sango became uncomfortable when they all began to stare at her. "What's going on?" she asked, slowly combing her fingers through her still-wet hair.

Inuyasha was the first to break the silence. "Did the bouzu fucking knock you up?" Kagome squeaked and she slapped Inuyasha's arm.

Sango blinked several times. "…What?"

Kagome stepped toward her. "Sango-chan… are you pregnant?"

Miroku and Sango ended up speaking at the same time.

"That's impossible! We've never had sex!"

"Am I _pregnant_?! How can you possibly think that?!"

Kagome was confused. "Well, aren't you?! Shippou said you were having mood swings and you were throwing up in the bushes earlier!"

"And you two fucking smelled like each other when we met up after you visited Mushin two months ago!"

Miroku crossed his arms. "Sango slipped when we were walking by a river. Her clothes were wet but she had nothing else, so I gave her my kesa to keep her warm. That's probably why we smelled like each other."

"So if you didn't knock her up, who the fuck did?! That Kuranosuke brat?!"

Sango promptly hit Inuyasha on the head with Hiraikotsu. "I am _not_ pregnant! I was collecting herbs for Kaede-sama and I accidentally picked a daffodil too. I'm allergic to them. When Shippou didn't mention anything about how I looked, I assumed that either he didn't notice or it didn't look as bad as I'd imagined. Happy?" Sango groaned and rubbed her temples. How could the gods be so sadistic? What had she done in a previous life to deserve this?

For a while, there was only silence. Heavy, awkward silence. Kagome was staring at her feet in embarrassment as Inuyasha's eyes darted confusedly from person to person. Miroku could only glare holes through Inuyasha's head for suggesting that Kuranosuke could _ever_ get that close to Sango. As soon as Kagome found her voice, she quickly apologized to Sango, excusing both herself and Inuyasha.

Regaining his composure, Miroku decided that it was high time that he and Sango had a little talk. "So, you're sure you're not pregnant?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sure! Do you really need to ask?!"

"Well, I just wanted to make sure because if you _were_ pregnant, that would be problematic. But if you're _not_ pregnant, that is _easily_ remedied," he replied with a saucy wink. Sango groaned in disgust. Seeing that she had turned to leave, Miroku realized that it wasn't the best time to fool around and apologized. "Sango… Sango, wait! I'm sorry. Look… could we talk? About us?"

Sango crossed her arms and looked away, but she stayed. "What is there to talk about, Houshi-sama?"

"Come, Sango, you can't possibly mean that."

"I can mean it, and I do," she said stubbornly. "You had two months! I gave you time and space to think about it; I waited for you to make a move, but you didn't. I can't do this anymore, Houshi-sama. I can't wait forever."

Miroku chose his words carefully. "The minute we defeated Naraku, that's what I thought too. I thought I needed to reevaluate my life because from that moment on, I actually had a full life to live. But in the past two months, I've learned that I never needed the space," he reached for her hand, grasping it tightly in both of his. "I never needed the time," he whispered, turning her to face him. "I just wasted it, thinking about stupid things that don't matter and then worrying that you'd changed your mind. I was never unsure of anything in my life, and the feeling scared me." He heard a sniffle come from Sango and realized that she was crying. "Is there a daffodil in the room causing another allergic reaction?" he joked.

She slapped his arm with her free hand. "Shut up," she sniffled. "_You_ were unsure of _me_?"

He grinned sheepishly, tugging her closer to him. "Sango dear, as I have learned, you are _full_ of surprises."

Sango leaned into his embrace. "Oh?"

He nodded and kissed her forehead. "But then again…" he trailed off, kissing her once on each cheek. He grinned when he saw that Sango had closed her eyes, fully expecting a kiss on the lips. Miroku leaned in close so that their lips were just millimeters apart. "So am I," he whispered. Then he gently took her left hand with his uncovered right, placed a small object in her palm, and closed her fingers over it. Pulling away slightly, he chuckled a little at the look of disappointment on her face.

Confused, Sango stepped back, out of his reach. She looked at Miroku and then at the object in her hand. It was small and circular with a simple rose engraved; its golden color shone in the firelight. She opened her mouth to speak, but Miroku beat her to it.

"In the past two months I realized that I wouldn't spend my life with anyone other than you. I know we've had an… _almost_ proposal, but those were different times and I want to make it official. Marry me, Sango?"

Sango smiled. "I will if you'll kiss me, you big idiot."

Stepping forward to comply with her request, Miroku changed his mind and raised an eyebrow at her. "I will if you'll call me by my name."

"I will if you'll be faithful," she said, playing along. He could barely detect the uncertain and slightly challenging tone in her voice.

"I will if you'll have me." Another step.

"I will if you'll love me forever."

Just then, he kissed her. "Always."

Pulling him close for another kiss, she said "You lose. Now you _have_ to marry me." Sango giggled.

Miroku's eyes widened in shock, but then he grinned, resting his forehead against hers. "And so I shall."

_End._


End file.
